<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Carrot Cake, Cherry Lips by Eskarina</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27049660">Carrot Cake, Cherry Lips</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eskarina/pseuds/Eskarina'>Eskarina</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Underage Drinking, featuring the entirety of Nekoma being clowns</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 19:54:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,259</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27049660</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eskarina/pseuds/Eskarina</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p></p><blockquote>
  <p>Kuroo has always had startlingly red lips, to the point where they become distracting. Kenma would like to tease him about it, just as a defense mechanism, but the words always seem to get lost somewhere in his throat.</p>
</blockquote>What's a birthday party without some simmering romantic tension?
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>217</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Carrot Cake, Cherry Lips</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>NOW this is a bit late but it's still Kenma's birthday where I live SO Happy Birthday King!!!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lev’s laughter is loud enough to echo through the entire house. Kenma can hear it even through the closed bathroom door, not doing remotely enough to shelter him from the noise of his own unsolicited birthday party.</p><p> </p><p>He washes his hands in order to get rid of the stickiness of Japan’s Premium Beer, Kirin Ichiban, from when he unsuccessfully tried to save the living room table from Lev and Tora's beer pong misadventure. Kenma had left before it got the chance to drip down to the floor. Schrödinger’s beer pong puddle, sinking into his parent’s carpet and not all at the same time.</p><p> </p><p>The tile is cold and hard against his back when he sinks down to the ground, soothing after suffering a near heart attack just moments ago. He still had enough foresight to grab his Switch from the bedroom, but it’s on its last thirteen percent, so he feels a bit like he's using up his last reserves during an apocalypse. His phone is still in the living room where he left it when he fled the commotion, probably getting lost between the couch cushions at the moment. He’ll have to painstakingly dig it out later, but before one of the others decides to crash and fall asleep on there. It’s a very delicate balance.</p><p> </p><p>There’s a knock on the door. It’s not locked, but Kenma appreciates the sentiment. There’s really only one person who would know where to come find him, anyway. He doesn’t bother answering though, because he’s already expended enough energy on talking today.</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo cracks the door open and pokes his head inside before squeezing himself through, like he’s afraid Kenma is going to get startled and run if he opens the door too wide. Not too far-fetched, because there’s a loud crash from outside, and Kenma flinches involuntarily, clutching his Switch as it threatens to slip out of his hands. Kuroo quickly closes the door and sits down next to him, wincing at the coldness of the floor.</p><p> </p><p>“You forgot this,” he says and hands Kenma his phone. Then, “Are you okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“Depends. Is the carpet okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“It is.”</p><p> </p><p>“Is the table okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“It will be, by the time your parents get home.”</p><p> </p><p>Kenma sighs. “I guess I’m fine.”</p><p> </p><p>He checks his phone for something to do as the semi-comfortable silence stretches. There’s more birthday wishes, from people he doesn’t even really talk to. He copy and pastes the response.</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo shifts to get more comfortable and starts humming an off-key tune that Kenma recognizes as the Sonic 2 title melody. His lips look cherry red in the bright bathroom light. Kuroo has always had startlingly red lips, to the point where they become distracting. Kenma would like to tease him about it, just as a defense mechanism, but the words always seem to get lost somewhere in his throat. Leaning against the bathroom tile is starting to hurt his spine, so he leans against Kuroo’s shoulder instead.</p><p> </p><p>It's been a while since they spent time together. Two weeks and one day, to be exact, since Kuroo moved to the dorms, a 50 minute train ride (walk not included) away. It's not that far. He should probably come home on the weekends, just to save some money on food. Kenma hasn’t been able to bring himself to suggest it yet.</p><p> </p><p>"Are you going to keep hiding in here?" Kuroo asks when Kenma's Switch drops its 11th percent.</p><p> </p><p>"Yes," Kenma says. He's never enjoyed Animal Crossing more than at this exact moment.</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo sighs and switches to humming the Casino Zone. Kenma notices he hasn't brought his own phone, so he's stuck just staring at the bathroom wall or watching Kenma.</p><p> </p><p>"Did you replay Sonic 2?" Kenma asks, because the silence is making him a little nervous. That never used to happen with Kuroo. He doesn't care to examine the reason.</p><p> </p><p>"I got bored, okay? We used to play it together all the time way back. It's like the only video game I'm good at."</p><p> </p><p><em> You should have just come home if you were bored</em>, Kenma thinks. He also thinks it's good that he's got such a strong filter between his brain and his mouth.</p><p> </p><p>"I wanna go back to the living room," Kuroo says. "Yaku said they got cake."</p><p> </p><p>"Go, then. I’m not dealing with Lev anymore."</p><p> </p><p>"He's gonna crash soon anyway, you know he’s like a toddler.”</p><p> </p><p>Kenma sighs in exasperation. “A drunk toddler. And Tora already called dibs on the couch.”</p><p> </p><p>“They’ll figure it out.”</p><p> </p><p>“They’re going to saw it in two at best.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo snorts and wraps an arm around Kenma's shoulders to ruffle his hair. “You're such a pain. Fine then, we’ll stay in here.”</p><p> </p><p>Through the shift in positions, Kenma is now leaning against Kuroo's chest. When he focuses on it, he can feel Kuroo breathing, slow and relaxed. He wonders whether if he stayed like this for long enough, he could feel Kuroo's heartbeat.</p><p> </p><p>The prospect of spending another two hours or so until the others leave pressed up against either the cold tile or Kuroo’s warm chest is daunting enough to make Kenma get up within the next five minutes.</p><p> </p><p>♡</p><p> </p><p>Lev is curled up at the foot of the couch when they get back to the living room. Kenma carefully nudges him with one socked foot, just to make sure he's still alive. Lev winces, even though Kenma barely used any force.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey, your negative aura is upsetting him," Kuroo says, and nudges Kenma's foot away with his own.</p><p> </p><p>Tora, perched on the couch, seems about ready to defend it with his life. Shibayama and Inuoka are gingerly picking pieces out of a jenga tower, presumably responsible for the crash from earlier. Kenma hasn't seen them this focused since they tried to figure out a 500 piece Pokémon puzzle last training camp.</p><p> </p><p>Yaku’s agitated voice from the kitchen, “Damnit Lev, I told you to get a 1 and an 8, why is there a 1 and a 2? Is anyone here turning twelve?” makes Lev flinch in his sleep again. It bears a certain resemblance to how dogs move when they dream, Kenma thinks.</p><p> </p><p>“That can’t be good for his back,” Kuroo says.</p><p> </p><p>“He said it's fine because of his Russian genes,” Tora says, clearly more interested in maintaining his status as living room czar than Lev’s future back issues.</p><p> </p><p>Kenma decides to take the risk and sits on the couch. Birthday privileges and the questionable ownership of the thing seemingly make it okay for Tora, although he gives Kuroo a dirty look when he goes to sit down as well, so Kuroo ends up on the floor at Kenma’s feet, with his legs crossing over Lev’s.</p><p> </p><p>The jenga tower crashes down again. Kuroo is leaning his back against Kenma’s shins. It’s only a small comfort in light of everything.</p><p> </p><p>“Happy twelfth birthday, Kenma,” Yaku says as he walks in with the lit up cake, proudly displayed on one of Kenma's dad's failed pottery projects. It’s carrot cake, nobody’s first choice except Shibayama’s, whose sister owns a bakery.</p><p> </p><p>“There are some extra candles in the drawer next to-“ Kuroo jumps up and disappears into the kitchen to return with a handful of candles in various states of burned down. Kenma will never be able to tell his mom <em>“I don’t think we need to keep those”</em> again. He considers telling Kuroo to put them back for that reason alone, but Kuroo is already jamming them into the cake, sans candle holders and everything.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey,” Shibayama says, with a scandalized look. Kuroo leaves a candle-less quarter for him.</p><p> </p><p>“Happy twelve plus sixth birthday, Kenma,” Yaku says after photographing Kuroo’s cake bastardization from every angle.</p><p> </p><p>Carrot cake tastes surprisingly good at 11 pm and with all his friends huddled around their makeshift living room table, a bunch of wobbly cardboard boxes of differing heights. Kuroo has declared the regular living room table off limits after the Beer Pong Nightmare. There are two holes at the top of Kenma’s cake piece from the candles, and he feels a little guilty even though he’s just going to eat it, anyway.</p><p> </p><p>The singing is off key, and Kenma hates being the center of attention, and the name part is just a jumble of “Kenma” and “Kenma-san” and “Ken-chan” (Kuroo is just trying to embarrass him, and it's working). Fighting the grin that’s trying to spread on his face is making his cheeks hurt.</p><p> </p><p>"Cheers, from one adult to another," Fukunaga says as he hands Kenma an open can of warm beer. Kenma takes half a sip out of courtesy before he finds himself googling <em> "beer harmful to sewage system yes or no"</em>. He steals Kuroo's apple cider instead, carefully hidden from the others, but not from Kenma's observative gaze. It's pure bliss in comparison, even though he's not a fan of the amount of carbonation.</p><p> </p><p>"What gives you the right," Kuroo sighs after snatching the bottle back from Kenma.</p><p> </p><p>Kenma narrows his eyes. "I'm the birthday boy." </p><p> </p><p>"Birthday man," Fukunaga says.</p><p> </p><p>“We should play never have I ever,” Lev says, probably riding some sort of underage drinking high.</p><p> </p><p>“But none of us have done anything, ever,” Kenma says. Except for Kuroo and Yaku maybe, because they're college boys (men) now. Kenma can live without the knowledge.</p><p> </p><p>"Speak for yourself," Tora says, but doesn't elaborate further, probably because he’s got nothing to elaborate on.</p><p> </p><p>♡</p><p> </p><p>The others leave just in time to catch the last train, leaving behind a strangely empty house. The living room table is dry and not sticky anymore, and Kenma has taken great pleasure in tossing the Beer Pong Disaster ball into the bushes in his back yard, never to be seen again.</p><p> </p><p>Now, he's reclining on the couch, eyes closed, the sweet relief of silence washing over him. Kuroo plops down directly next to him with an exaggerated sigh.</p><p> </p><p>"Did you have fun?" Kuroo asks, shifting a bit closer. He smells faintly of sandalwood. Kenma opens his eyes to blink up at the ceiling, tracing a few decorative cracks with his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>"Hnrgh," he says. "You?"</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah. It was good, seeing everyone again.” The sentence trails off awkwardly, like Kuroo is leaving something unsaid.</p><p> </p><p>“Hm.” Kenma’s heart feels hot in his chest, and in his throat. He's not sure where it's coming from, all of a sudden.</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo yawns and leans his head on Kenma's shoulder. His hair tickles Kenma's neck, but Kenma stays perfectly still.</p><p> </p><p>Silence between them never used to be this loaded. Or maybe it did, and Kenma just chose to ignore it.</p><p> </p><p>"Aren't you going home?" he asks.</p><p> </p><p>"I wanna spend some more time with you," Kuroo mumbles. He sounds sleepy, his head on Kenma's shoulder somehow getting heavier. Kenma's back is starting to ache from keeping still for so long.</p><p> </p><p>"You're not even saying anything," he says after letting the silence stretch some more.</p><p> </p><p>"I missed you." </p><p> </p><p>Kenma clears his throat. "You were only gone for, like, two weeks," he says.</p><p> </p><p>“You're so mean. I'm being vulnerable here. Hurry up and graduate, okay?"</p><p> </p><p>"Okay."</p><p> </p><p>A chuckle reverberates through Kuroo's body, shaking Kenma by proxy. "Kenma, do you ever feel like… no, nevermind."</p><p> </p><p>"What?"</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo lifts his head up to meet Kenma's eyes, but still doesn't say anything.</p><p> </p><p>"Kuro, what?"</p><p> </p><p>"Nothing."</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo is incredibly close. His lips are strawberry red in the warm living room light. Kenma wonders if maybe he uses red tinted lip balm. It's a conspiracy theory worth investigating.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re staring,” Kuroo says. His voice is uncharacteristically unsure, dropped down to a whisper.</p><p> </p><p>There's really no logical reason their faces should be this close. Kenma wishes he had had more than two sips of beer, despite the distinct and flavorful taste of soap.</p><p> </p><p>It’s his birthday. He was planning on going to the mall tomorrow and buying himself a new game, or maybe some cute merch. There's an oversized Charizard plush he's been eyeing for a really long time.</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo releases a shuddering breath, slightly parting his lips.</p><p> </p><p>It’s Kenma’s birthday. He should get himself something nice. Really treat himself.</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo’s lips don’t taste like cherry, or strawberry. Fortunately, they don’t taste like beer either. They just taste like lips. They feel just as soft as they look, though, and Kenma mentally compliments his own life choices when Kuroo inhales sharply and tangles a hand into Kenma’s hair before kissing him back.</p><p> </p><p>Kenma quickly gets lost among the feeling of soft lips and even softer touches, Kuroo's breath ghosting over his cheek and their fingers entwining. By the time they stop kissing, Kuroo is in his lap and there’s a tinge of blue dusting the sky outside the window. A lonely bird is starting its morning routine, unbothered by whatever kind of earth shattering events are going on in Kenma's living room.</p><p> </p><p>“Now we could beat the others at never have I ever,” Kuroo says. His arms are locked loosely around Kenma’s shoulders, who is starting to sweat with all the body heat emanating from Kuroo. It makes him feel sleepy, despite his racing heart.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think that’s a game you can win or lose.”</p><p> </p><p>“Is that why you didn’t want to play?”</p><p> </p><p>“I just didn’t want to hear about your college exploits.”</p><p> </p><p>Kuroo huffs, and moves one hand to Kenma’s hair. He brushes it into Kenma’s face until his vision is completely obscured, and it’s tickling his nose. “You know there are none, right?”</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe so,” Kenma says through his curtain of hair. “I’ll hurry up and graduate.”</p><p></p><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Kai was there as well, he was just smiling gently in the background.</p><p>Hope y'all had or are having a good anime character birthday! I really just wanted to write something where Kenma gets celebrated, as he should lmao</p><p>Please consider leaving kudos if you enjoyed this one! I feel like my writing style has been going all over the place dfjgsgf</p><p>Tumblr: <a href="https://eska-rina.tumblr.com">eska-rina</a><br/>Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/Eskarina69">Eskarina69</a><br/></p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>